pic: 2826 Halonomic Drive Prototype

[Tyler Olds]

Thank you for all the nice compliments, I will try to answer what I can, but this is a prototype and we have not gotten to test it on anything but a concrete floor. We are still making adjustments to the drive since we determined that we need to have an additional gear reduction so the motors do not kick out.

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

I like the concept alot, I sketched something similar for a project I had an idea for. Can you tell me how this works on grass? Also can you control the height of the main body by adjusting your struts on the fly or is it just a fixed suspension driven by a shock?

We have not tested it off road yet, but the hopes of the suspension that we have is to take it in different terrains. It is a fixed suspension, however we have holes drilled to adjust each leg.

Originally Posted by Chris is me

WOW that thing looks beastly! Are those 14 inch wheels? Got any video? That seems like it wond be really cool to see run and swerve. How much movement do the shocks have? Could they go, say, upside down? There's some small paralells to be drawn here; 1714 did holonomic in 2008 build, 2826 did crab in 2009, now those are reversed in the offseason... I guess I just find it funny.

It is a beast both in size and weight. I do not know the exact diameter of the wheels off hand. The shocks have a fully range of movement to the point that the frame will bottom out before the shocks give. The robot is not designed to drive upside down if it flipped over but it would be cool.

Originally Posted by big1boom

Nice mechanum drive. Looks awesome, with some pretty cool machining.
Are those custom made wheels?

They are custom made out of polyurethane that we made in a custom mold.

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

This is very, very cool. As with everyone else, I have a few questions:
What is the purpose of the scissor-like suspension? Is it to provide active suspension for the wheels, or does your wheelbase footprint need to change during your application?
What is the diameter of those wheels?
This is a very inspirational mechanism. I would love to see what all is going on within each of those suspension members.
Sincerely,
Andy Baker

Thanks Andy! The footprint does not need to change during usage, just to provide an active suspension. I should be able to post a couple pictures or video next week.